Hawking’s speech recording sent to black hole during memorial service

During a memorial service for the recently deceased physicist Stephen Hawking, a recording of his speech was sent into space. The text was sent in the form of radio waves from an ESA station to the nearest black hole, 3,500 light-years away.

Hawking’s speech was accompanied by music by the Greek composer Vangelis, known for the film scores of Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise. However, Vangelis composed an original piece of music for Hawking. The message was sent into space from a European Space Agency dish in Cebreros, Spain, the ESA said. Only around the year 5500 will the message actually arrive at the black hole, 1A 0620-00. “It is a message of peace, harmony and hope, of unity and the need to live together in harmony on this planet,” the family told The Telegraph.

Hawking’s recording and accompanying music are currently not public. The guests received the materials on CD, but as far as we know they have not yet been put on the internet. The text of the speech can be read online.

During the memorial service, the cremated Hawking’s ashes were placed in Westminster Abbey, near the graves of Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. A thousand members of the public were in attendance, from over a hundred different countries. In total there were about 25,000 registrations for the service. Attendees included actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Hawking in the 2004 TV movie of the same name, and astronaut Tim Peake, according to the BBC. The latter was also a speaker during the service.

Interesting detail about the registration process for the memorial service: it was possible to specify a date of birth that is in the future. This is to make the ceremony also accessible to time travelers who are not yet born. As far as is known, no time travelers have come to the service. Hawking has done such a trick before; in 2009, he hosted a party that was open to the public, but he didn’t announce the party until after it took place, so that only time travelers could attend. No one showed up.

British physicist Stephen Hawking died on March 14 at his home in Cambridge. He turned 76 years old. Hawking is best known for his work on black holes and the hawking radiation named after him.