British physicist Stephen Hawking's voice will be beamed into space as part of a "thanksgiving" service at Westminster Abbey on Friday to mark his life and achievements.
Words spoken by Hawking, who died in March aged 76 after a lengthy battle with motor neuron disease, have been set to music by Vangelis, a Greek composer known for his Chariots of Fire movie theme. The composition will be projected into space toward "the nearest black hole" from a European Space Agency satellite dish in Spain.
"It is a message of peace and hope, about unity and the need for us to live together in harmony on this planet," Hawking's daughter Lucy said in a statement.
She described the pairing of the words and music 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."
During the service, Hawking's ashes will be interred near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist and mathematician whose work led to the formulation of the law of gravity, and Charles Darwin, who devised the theory of evolution. Hawking is most known for his research on black holes and for his advocacy for scientific work.
The service will be attended by Hawking’s family, friends, colleagues, academics and school children. It will feature readings and speeches, including from the actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Hawking in a drama series on British television.
Hawking's neurological condition affected his ability to control his muscles and it eventually robbed him of power over his vocal cords, too. For decades he spoke with the assistance of a computer and his computer-generated voice became so distinctive that is was one of the most recognizable sounds on the planet.
In his later years Hawking often expressed the belief that the human race needed to explore space to avoid the dangers of planet Earth's limited resources.
