> Instead the majority of the kinetic energy needed comes from the ejected electrons from the sun's light ionizing the upper atmosphere. IIRC, at martian surfa

> Instead the majority of the kinetic energy needed comes from the ejected electrons from the sun's light ionizing the upper atmosphere. IIRC, at martian surface temperature, hydrogen atoms have escape velocity. That goes a long way to explaining why there's no water on Mars: there's lots of Oxygen, but most of the hydrogen has fled.