The event represents a decisive moment in the opposition of the two superpowers following WWII. It establishes a new balance based on economic, scientific and technological competition. “Westerners” and “Easterners” now seem to share common goal regard the advance of humanity. Besides the economical, political and cultural dimension emerging from the written sources, the oral ones introduce a new element: the strong impact of the event on the people. Although television was somewhat filtered by the political forces and differentiated by age, the images that pass give body to a sense of general optimism. The industrial development and occupation seem supported by the scientific advances. Considering the widespread adhesion to the communist and socialist ideologies in the countryside and among the factory workers, the fact that the first man in space was a Russian only reinforces the validity of the communist way of life and the hope for a social redemption. An era of enormous positive changes, economical, political and cultural, seems to be at the door.