Wichita ? Jurors are expected to hear opening arguments Wednesday in the federal trial of the man who turned a small-town planetarium into a nationally recognized space museum that houses such artifacts as the Apollo 13 command module.

Jury selection began Tuesday in the case against Max Ary, the former director of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson. Ary is accused of stealing items from the collection, but his attorneys have contended in earlier hearings the items actually belong to Ary.

He has pleaded not guilty to allegations that he made profits on a number of artifacts, including ones on loan from NASA.

He faces 19 federal counts ranging from mail fraud to money laundering.

Ary, 55, ended his 27-year tenure at the museum in May 2002.

Items Ary is accused of stealing include the nose cone of a rocket, an astronaut’s in-flight T-shirt, a control panel from Air Force One and an Apollo 12 water valve.