People who want to be involved more deeply can pay 5,000 for a place in the viewing gallery at mission control.

By mid-morning Wednesday, the Kickstarter campaign had nearly 500 backers who have raised a total of almost 49,000. Lunar Mission One has up to December 17 to raise the required funds and move the project closer to lift off.

Government space cuts

David Iron, founder of Lunar Missions Limited, said the crowdfunding drive was a response to a cutback in the global cutbacks on space exploration.

"It is a response to the fact that governments' space missions are as limited as ever for financing the kind of space projects that are designed for advancing knowledge and understanding," Iron told CNBC by phone.

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"At the same time, by getting people involved in the financing, we are getting them involved in the project itself."

Bury your hair in space?

When Lunar Mission One lands on the moon's south pole, it will drill to a depth of at least 20 meters deep, but could go as far as 100 meters, with the aim of analyzing lunar rock to discover more about life on earth.

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Send your DNA to the moon with crowdfunded mission