- Stephen Hawking’s ashes will be laid to rest at Westminster Abbey on Friday.
- A speech by the late physicist has been set to a piece of music, which will be beamed into space after the service.
- The composition is by Vangelis, who wrote the “Chariots of Fire” theme, and is being broadcast by the European Space Agency.
Stephen Hawking’s voice will be beamed into space as a “message of peace and hope” to the universe as his ashes are laid to rest on Friday.
A speech from the late physicist has been set to an original score by composer Vangelis, who wrote music for films including “Chariots of Fire” and “Blade Runner.”
The European Space Agency plans to beam it from its satellite dish in Cebreros, Spain, to the nearest black hole, which is called 1A 0620-00. It is part of a binary star system 3,500 light years from earth.
The entire piece is about six and a half minutes long, with a voiceover by Hawking in the middle, European Space Agency senior adviser Mark McCaughrean told CNN.
It isn't clear exactly what the voiceover will say. The Vangelis piece will be played to guests at Friday's service, and be released to the public at an unspecified date, CNN reported.
Hawking's family, friends, and 1,000 members of the public are attending a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey, London, which started at midday local time on Friday.
The service featured readings from people including actor Benedict Cumberbatch and astronaut Tim Peake.
Here's Cumberbatch reading a verse from the Bible at the service:
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who starred in the 2004 film ‘Hawking’, read Wisdom 7: 15-24.
‘For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists,
to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements...’#StephenHawking pic.twitter.com/R4NYctGsiX— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) June 15, 2018
At the service, Hawking's ashes will be interred between fellow British scientists Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.
A memorial stone with one of Hawking's most famous equations will also be placed on top of his grave.
This is the memorial stone which will be placed on top of #StephenHawking's grave. Incised in the stone is Hawking’s most famous equation describing the entropy of a black hole. pic.twitter.com/ClBhsXucVm
— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) June 15, 2018
Hawking's daughter Lucy described the music to accompany the physicist's words as 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," according to the BBC.
She added: "It is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet."
Stephen Hawking died at home on March 14, 2018, after a long battle with neurodegenerative disease ALS. He was 76.
