September 2, 1984

Konstantin U. Chernenko, the Soviet leader, was quoted today as saying that an agreement with the United States on banning weapons in outer space would ease the way for discussions on other disarmament issues. The comment, in the form of answers to questions put to him by Pravda, the Communist Party newspaper, was the first major statement attributed to him since he left for a vacation July 15. It was not clear when or how the interview with Mr. Chernenko had been conducted. . The absence of the Soviet leader from public view has aroused rumors about his health and political standing. In the last week, his name has reappeared prominently in the official press on a number of minor statements. In the Pravda article Mr. Chernenko was quoted as repeating the Soviet position that the United States was scuttling the possibility of space-weapons talks because of its insistence on raising questions about stalled nuclear-weapons negotiations.

In the first test of electricity-generating systems to be erected on future space stations, an experimental solar power array was unfolded today and extended up from the space shuttle Discovery like a glistening stairway to the stars. The Discovery crew also successfully released the third and last communications satellite from the cargo bay, did some troubleshooting on a balky drug-processing machine and had a telephone conversation with President Reagan. With Judith A. Resnik at the controls, an epoxy-fiberglass mast rose slowly out of the Discovery's cargo bay and brought with it the unfolding sections of the solar panel. These are thin sheets of the plastic material Kapton that had been folded accordionlike. Attached to most of the 84 panels are dummy solar cells, though the outermost panels hold three working cells for converting sunlight to energy.

Structural decay forced the demolition five years ago of the Knickerbocker Inn, in Leonia, N.J., a pre- Revolutionary stopover point for the overland stage through northeastern Bergen County.

INVESTMENTS BUYING AN OCCUPIED CO-OP UNIT WITH the steep rise in the price of New York City co-op apartments has come a growing awareness that occupied unsold apartments - whose tenants may stay on indefinitely at a controlled or stabilized rent - can be worthwhile long- term investments. Normally, they can be acquired for much less than what their market value would be as vacant units. In the past, the sponsor of the conversion held on to most of them until they became vacant and then sold them for top dollar. Occasionally, occupied apartments would be sold in lots to another real-estate professional, but the ordinary citizen was rarely involved.

The Reagan Administration is nearing a decision to offer asylum to thousands of Vietnamese prisoners held by Vietnam in ''re-education'' camps, senior Administration officials said today. The contemplated American action would be in response to earlier Vietnamese offers to release the prisoners, many of whom had close ties to the United States during the Vietnam War, if the United States would agree to resettle them. The prisoners are believed to number between 6,000 and 15,000. In the past the Administration reacted skeptically to the proposal by Hanoi. But at the urging of refugee groups, some members of Congress and some high-ranking American officials, Washington is said to have decided in principle to test Vietnam's sincerity and to be forthcoming in seeking the release of the prisoners.