As Hawking's ashes were interred between the graves of Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton at a memorial service on Friday at Westminster Abbey, an antenna in Spain was to beam his voice out into space, toward a black hole.
Greek composer Vangelis -- yes, the "Chariots of Fire" guy -- set the physicist's voice to an original piece of music for the occasion. It is meant to send a message of peace and hope, Hawking's family said in a statement.
Scientists were to use the Cebreros antenna in central Spain to send the recording toward 1A 0620-00, the nearest known black hole -- some 3,500 light years from Earth. It's one of the most famous black holes in the universe, McCaughrean said.
After the ceremony, the music was due to be played at a reception for people in attendance. Every person there will receive a CD with the piece of music, which will be released to the public at a later date.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who played the scientist in a 2004 BBC biopic, were among those giving readings at the ceremony, according to the Stephen Hawking Foundation.
Addresses and readers were also given by Astronaut Tim Peake and two of Hawking's oldest professional friends, cosmologist Martin Rees and Kip Thorne, an American physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
A public lottery decided which 1,000 members of the public would join the Hawking family and their guests at the service. Around 25,000 people applied for tickets.
In 1963, shortly before his 21st birthday, Hawking was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neuro-degenerative disease, and although he required a wheelchair and a speech synthesizer, Hawking lived for many years beyond the prognosis.