There is a fascinating and very well made documentary, "The Privileged Plant" that goes into great detail about how unique Earth is not only to have life, but even more to let its inhabitants explore the rest of universe. I would would heartily recommend both the video and the book! Here's a link to the info about it:
The Privileged Planet
There's a link there to view a sample of the video. I didn't check it out, but it's probably worth the effort.