It is a gag. This photo is described in detail on snopes (a "mythbusters"
site). The base setup is actually a submarine control room in a museum to
which a few things have been changed and added and the description created.
I don't have graphics, but I think most of the picture you're
talking about is a nuclear sub's reactor/electrical/steam control
panel that's on display in the Smithsonian, with a DECwriter
and guy and TV screen photoshopped on top. Am I too far off?