Hawking’s message of hope will be sent into black hole

STEPHEN HAWKING’S voice will be beamed into a black hole while his ashes are being interred at Westminster Abbey, his family said yesterday.

His words had been set to an original piece of music, composed by Vangelis, for the Service of Thanksgiving, and offered a message of peace and hope, Prof Hawking’s daughter Lucy said.

The broadcast in space will take place following a memorial service tomorrow, which will feature readings and addresses from the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Tim Peake, the British astronaut.

Prof Hawking’s children have expressed their gratitude to the abbey for allowing their father to have a “distinguished” final resting place between the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

Ms Hawking said: “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.

“It is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet.”

One thousand members of the public, from more than 100 countries, have been offered the opportunity to attend the service after a ballot attracted 25,000 applications for tickets.