I don’t know if this is true or not. But it could be. He considered himself a scientist and had an interest in stuff like space travel, I believe.
Since his intended victim’s husband is an astronaut, there is a connection of sorts.
I’d be curious what questions he asked her when he got mad at her answers a couple of years earlier? Political? Or possibly pseudo-scientific?
I thought he asked her, “What would politics be like if words had no meaning.” or something like that. Saw it suggested somewhere. He asked his math teacher, “Can you teach me to deny math.” and in another place someone said he once insisted that “six was actually eighteen”. Surely the latter was a reference to “If six was nine ...” and actually shows a bit of humor. As to denial of math, it has a long history.