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By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A solar storm that shook the Earth's magnetic field on Thursday spared satellite and power systems as it delivered a glancing blow, although it could still intensify until early Friday, space weather experts said. The geomagnetic storm surging from the sun was initially expected to be strong enough to disrupt power grids, airplane traffic and space-based satellite navigation systems

A massive burst of solar wind that erupted from the sun Tuesday is expected to deliver only a "glancing blow" to the Earth's vulnerable magnetic field, NASA officials said yesterday. But it will preview what some experts call a potentially existential threat to the power grids of the United States and other nations, and the populations that depend on them.