Halley's Comet

Halley's Comet is a comet that passes Earth every 75-76 years. Or 80 if precision knowledge of space isn't part of your job as an astronaut.

Fiction

Challenge of the GoBots cartoon

Halley's Comet approached Earth just as the UNECOM/Guardian Star Fortress was completed, presenting an opportunity to send up a ship to investigate the comet. The expedition soon found the powerful element Quantumite on the comet and returned to the Star Fortress, where it was wired into the base's systems in time to thwart a Renegade attack. A second mission to Halley's Comet was launched to find more of the element, but the team inside were ambushed by the Renegades. A.J. Foster and Nick Burns were able to escape onto the comet's surface, giving Pincher and Sky-Jack the slip. Nevertheless, the Renegades were able to use the ship to get inside the Star Fortress undetected. The resulting battle saw both the Quantumite and the Star Fortress destroyed. Despite this, A.J. was eager to visit the Comet a third time - only for Matt Hunter to tell her it wasn't due for another eighty years. The Secret of Halley's Comet

Mini World storybooks

Following a chance encounter with some astronomers, Crasher brought Halley's Comet to Cy-Kill's attention. He saw it as a potent weapon to use against Earth, and along with Doctor Braxis extorted a gravity component from the people of Mixafon to drag it towards the planet. However, Matt and A.J. noticed its' course change from Earth and triangulate the location of the Renegade device. Matt and Spay-C set off to find it, and after a brief fight with Crasher were able to destroy it and return the comet to its' natural path. Collision Course Comet

Notes

• As any pedant will tell you, a comet is a ball of ice that gives off gasses, whereas Challenge of the GoBots portrays it as basically a planet or moon that just happens to be mobile (and even then not that mobile). Though at least the humans wear spacesuits, which actually makes it one of the more realistic space plots of the series.
• Halley's Comet passed Earth in 1986, meaning a minor rash of public interest - as well as being likely independently used for two different GoBots stories the comet featured in Doctor Who, the novel Heart of the Comet and inspired a video game.