LONDON — Stephen Hawking will take his place among Britain's greatest scientists with the burial of his ashes in Westminster Abbey, between the graves of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton.
More than 1,000 people Friday attended a service of thanksgiving for the physicist, who died in March at 76 after decades of living with motor neuron disease.
Members of the congregation file past the ashes of British scientist Stephen Hawking at the site of the interment in the nave of the Abbey church at Westminster Abbey, in London. Photo by Ben Stansall/Pool via Reuters
The service included readings by actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Hawking in a BBC drama, and astronaut Tim Peake.
Afterward, Hawking's words, set to music by Greek composer Vangelis, will be beamed into space from a European Space Agency satellite dish in Spain. Hawking's daughter, Lucy, said the music would be aimed at "the nearest black hole, 1A 0620-00."
Guests at the service included 1,000 members of the public selected by ballot.