Hawking plea 'to save planet' beamed to black hole

The voice recording of the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking beamed towards a black hole Friday came from a speech imploring humanity to save Earth, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

"It is a very emotional passage," ESA senior science advisor Mark McCaughrean told AFP.

"He was not talking about going out to the stars to save humankind, he was talking about saving the planet."

The recorded excerpt of Hawking's familiar synthesised voice -- set to music from Greek composer Vangelis -- was dispatched from a 35-metre radio dish outside Madrid as the famed stargazer was laid to rest in London's Westminster Abbey alongside science giants Issac Newton and Charles Darwin.

"We pointed the dish at the nearest black hole to Earth," known as 1A 0620-00, McCaughrean said. "It will take about 3,500 light years for the signal to get there."

"It's a symbolic gesture," he added, noting that the signal will be very weak by the time it arrives.

Hawking, whose bestsellers on the Universe made him a household name, died in March at the age of 76 after a lifetime of groundbreaking discovery.

"We are happy to play a small part in honouring his family. It has been a pleasure to work with them," McCaughrean said.

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