On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:13:45 +0100, Graham. wrote:
Why else would this piece of 1970s communications equipment be in the
JPL mission control this morning?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g3zvt/7...ream/lightbox/

Backup, I'd assume - if it's running solely from the phone line then at
least it might be possible to get a call in/out even if network/power in
the room suddenly isn't available (which is most likely an extremely
remote possibility of course, but for the sake of having a phone and
having someone check it periodically to make sure it's operational, it's
not a big deal)