Hawking’s voice to be beamed into space during memorial

Broadcast will be beamed towards the nearest black hole, 1A 0620-00

Amessage from late British astrophysics giant Stephen Hawking will be beamed towards the nearest black hole as his remains were to be laid to rest in London’s Westminster Abbey yesterday.

As the ashes of the British theoretical physicist are interred, a specially-written composition featuring his famous synthesised voice will be beamed into space by the European Space Agency.

“This is a beautiful and symbolic gesture that creates a link between our father’s presence on this planet, his wish to go into space and his explorations of the universe in his mind,” said his daughter Lucy Hawking.

The wheelchair-bound professor, who dedicated his life’s work to unravelling the mysteries of the universe and fought to overcome his disability, will be buried by the graves of fellow science greats Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. “The broadcast will be beamed towards the nearest black hole, 1A 0620-00, which lives in a binary system with a fairly ordinary orange dwarf star,” Hawking’s daughter said. Hawking, who captured the imagination of millions around the world, died on March 14 at the age of 76. Propelled to stardom by his 1988 book A Brief History of Time, Hawking’s genius and wit won over fans from far beyond the rarefied world of astrophysics. His death triggered a flood of tributes from Queen Elizabeth II to Nasa, reflecting his impact as a scientist but also a beacon of hope for people affected by motor neuron disease.