The physicist died peacefully in his home
Celebrated theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking has died, aged 76.
In a statement his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today.
"He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years."
NASA paid tribute to one of modern history's titanic minds, referencing a message he passed to astronauts on the International Space Station.
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/973787392590172160
Hawking experienced microgravity himself during a zero-g flight. He said that those who knew him well described his smile during that flight as "the biggest they had ever seen" and that the moment provided "true freedom."
Other tributes have poured in for the cosmologist.
https://twitter.com/timberners_lee/status/973778930581803009
https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/973772335537893377
https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/973772005467025408
https://twitter.com/CarrieHFletcher/status/973847582794448896
https://twitter.com/eugenegu/status/973846440970776576
https://twitter.com/Cambridge_Uni/status/973798360632168448
https://twitter.com/ProfBrianCox/status/973822019925086208
https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/973813845193084928
https://twitter.com/sundarpichai/status/973775734660624385
https://twitter.com/indyfromspace/status/973771489336897536
https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/973841825839525888
https://twitter.com/C4Paralympics/status/973836792519626753
https://twitter.com/CarolineLucas/status/973831918579044353
https://twitter.com/Jeremy_Hunt/status/973831345469345792
https://twitter.com/SamiraAhmedUK/status/973833462288388096
